


The missing dog

by Abraham



Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25740337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abraham/pseuds/Abraham
Summary: Thomas and Juliet are involved in an accident while searching for a missing dog.
Relationships: Juliet Higgins/Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Comments: 11
Kudos: 116





	1. Chapter 1

One minute they were on the road and the next they were airborne, plummeting down into the deep ravine until the car finally landed at the bottom. The thick vegetation helped to cushion their fall, but it also completely covered the car making it impossible to see from the road or the air or anywhere else someone might be looking for them.

Thomas sat stunned for a minute. Or maybe longer. All he knew was that his first thought was Juliet.

He looked around the car, panicked. The front was completely smashed in, trapping his left leg. He tried to twist around to see the back seat. The last time he had seen Higgins, she had taken off her seatbelt and climbed into the backseat to shoot at the car that was chasing them. The car that had eventually rammed into them hard enough to launch them over the side of the cliff.

“Higgins! Talk to me God dammit!”

He heard a groan from somewhere behind him.

“That’s my girl. Come on Higgy.”

She slowly sat up holding her head. She turned toward the front, breathing out a sigh of relief when she saw him. “Thomas.”

“I’m right here. Are you OK?”

“I think I’m alright.” She stretched out her legs and arms. “I’m going to have a nasty headache. Are you OK?”

“I think so. My left leg is trapped, though.”

She climbed over the seat to get to him, frowning at his leg. 

“Can you move it at all?”

“I can wiggle my toes, which has to be a good sign, right?”

He grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “Are you sure you’re OK?” His brown eyes, filled with concern, searched hers.

“I’m fine Thomas. Let’s just figure out how to get out of here.”

They had had a fight that morning. Neither had budged, each sure they were right and the other was wrong. Now all Thomas wanted to do was go back to this morning, pull her back into bed and hold her against him. 

They had slept together for the first time five months ago. It had been after a particularly disturbing case and neither one of them had wanted to be alone. They were together all the time anyway, and it didn’t seem like a bad idea at the time. 

But these days, when all they did was bicker, the only place they could seem to agree was in the bedroom. When Higgins was lying with her head on his shoulder, her arm across his chest and her legs tangled with his, everything was OK.

The vision of this morning disappeared and Thomas pulled her hand up to kiss it.

“I don’t think I’m going to be much help from here,” he said. “Do you see my phone anywhere?”

“No. But mine doesn’t have any service anyway. I’m going to climb up the ravine a little ways to see if I can get service.”

He didn’t want her to go. Even if those guys who had pushed them off the road weren’t looking for them, she had still hit her head pretty hard.

But he swallowed back those words, pulled her toward him and gently kissed her. Pushing her hair back, he looked at the cuts along her forehead, kissing those too. 

“Be careful.”

She leaned into him for a moment. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Funny.”

\-----------

Two days earlier 

The case had started as most cases did – too little information and a fast-approaching deadline. Their client reported her dog missing and was desperate to find her before moving to the mainland for a new job.

Higgins had laughed mercilessly, calling Magnum the #1 pet detective. “We should get a picture of you with a whole group of dogs and then take out some ads.”

He had rolled his eyes at her. “Hey. I know you love dogs more than me. I saw the way you were looking at those pictures.”

She harrumphed from behind her computer screen.

The dog in question was a greyhound named appropriately, Grey. Melina, their client, had rescued her from a dog-racing circuit about two years ago. Grey had been a racing star, Melina said, but grossly abused. Now she was living the life with Melina. Her new home had a big, fenced-in back yard. Melina had let Grey out in the morning the day before, went back inside to take care of a few things, and when she came back out, the dog was gone.

“Are you sure she didn’t jump the fence or perhaps the gate was left open,” Higgins had asked.

But Melina was sure she had latched the gate. 

Magnum and Higgins were headed to the house to check things out.

“She wouldn’t have jumped the fence,” Melina said, showing them the backyard. 

“Have you done anything different lately or noticed anything strange while you were out with Grey?” Thomas asked.

“Now that you mention it. There was this guy at the dog park last week. He was asking me all kinds of questions about Grey, like about her racing. He claimed he was interested in rescuing a Greyhound. He was kind of creepy.”

Besides describing him as creepy, Melina could only add that he was average height with average brown hair and a Hawaiian shirt.

“That could be you,” Higgins said to Thomas.

“Hey, I am well above average,” he said.

“Fine you are slightly better than average.”

They spent the afternoon searching the local dog rescue facilities and calling HPD to see if anyone had found a dog matching Grey’s description.

By the time they returned to Robin’s Nest, they were convinced that they would never find her.

“What about her dog racing days,” Thomas said. “She was supposed to be pretty good. Are there any articles or websites about her?”

Higgins googled dog racing, greyhounds and anything else related that she could think of before stumbling upon a fan page for Grey from a few years ago.

“It does look like she was quite the athlete from her winnings. Poor girl. Look how skinny she is in these pictures. And her coat has no shine. It says she was owned by Marco Puller.”

“Now who’s the #1 pet detective,” Magnum asked, grinning at her.

The next day, they drove outside the city to a rundown farm. They knocked at the front door, but no one answered. Barking led them around to the barn.

There were rows and rows of rusted cages filled with malnourished dogs of all breeds.

“Oh Thomas, look at these poor dogs. This is no life for them.”

“I know," he said, looking around. "Do you see Grey anywhere?”

They quickly walked up and down the rows searching for her, but found nothing. 

“Come on Higgy,” Thomas said. “We can’t do anything right now.”

She reluctantly turned away from the dogs. “I promise we’ll come back. We just need to get out of here,” he said.

“I think it’s a little too late for that,” said a steely voice from behind them.

The barking, whining dogs had masked his approach. They turned slowly and found themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun.


	2. The case continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnum and Higgins search for Grey.

“Sorry,” Thomas said. “We’re visiting the island on our honeymoon and got a little turned around.”

He casually reached out and put his arm around Higgins’ shoulders. “My wife here just loves dogs. You aren’t by chance selling any of these guys?”

He felt Higgins tense under his arm.

“Let’s move over to the door,” the man said. “Did Bobby send you?”

“Bobby? We don’t even know a Bobby. Well, I guess I do know one Bobby. You know who I mean sweetheart? Bobby the dolphin trainer in Key West?”

Higgins nodded in agreement as Magnum said, “Is that the Bobby you’re talking about?”

In his confusion, the man slightly lowered the shotgun and that’s all that Higgins needed to grab the barrel and wrench it out of his hands.

Magnum knocked his legs out from under him and pulled his hands behind his back.

“Now, why don’t you tell us why you have all these dogs out here.”

Gary, the man, started whining about his friend Bobby and how he promised that the dogs would be a quick way to an easy pay day. But, that was months ago and Bobby hadn’t been around since last week which meant Gary was stuck taking care of all the dogs.

Magnum and Higgins, and even Gary, were pretty sure the dogs had been dognapped so Magnum called Katsumoto to fill him in.

“Seriously Magnum? You’re creating quite the name for yourself.”

“I don’t want to hear it,”

Higgins just grinned.

Later that night, Magnum was sitting at the bar with T.C. while Rick waited on customers. Higgins said she would meet him there and he checked his phone so often that T.C. finally had had enough.

“What are you so interested in brother?”

“Nothing. Sorry. What were you saying?”

It wasn’t that Magnum and Higgins were hiding their new relationship, they just weren’t overly advertising it either. Their friends knew that something had evolved recently, but things between the four of them had remained the same.

“I was saying, I think that woman over there is trying to get your attention.”

“What? Oh. Great.”  
The woman was suddenly making her way toward them. She stopped at the bar and asked Rick to give Magnum a drink.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Allie.”

“I’m T.C. and this is Thomas,” T.C. said when Magnum didn’t respond because he was once again looking at his phone.

“Hi guys. This place is great. It’s my first time.”

Rick gave the drink to Thomas. “Compliments of Allie here.”

“Oh no. That’s not really necessary. I’m kind of waiting for someone.”

T.C. raised his eyebrows.

Just then, Juliet came in. She had been out riding and her hair was tangled and windswept. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had some dirt across her nose. Thomas had never seen her look more beautiful.

“Excuse me,” he said, getting up and going toward her. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her back to the bar. “Hey. Good ride?”

“Great! Hi T.C., Rick.”

“Hey Jules. What can I get you?”

Allie, meanwhile picked up her drink and made her way back to her friends. “That’s who he was waiting for? She’s not much to look at and she smells like a barn.”

But when she looked back over at Thomas and Juliet, she couldn’t help but feel jealous when she saw how much Thomas cared about the woman who had just walked in.

“So what’s this I hear about a dognapping?” Rick asked.

Thomas groaned.

“Yes. Thomas here is highly sought after in the dog community,” Higgins said. “You could even say he’s ‘Top Dog.’”

Thomas rolled his eyes, while Higgins laughed at her own joke.

“You didn’t find the missing dog though?” T.C. said.

“No. And there were probably 50 dogs in there. I think the key may be this Bobby guy. His friend gave us all his contact information. We’re going to try to track him down tomorrow.”

\------

Higgins hiked back down the ravine to the mangled car. 

“Any luck?”

“No. Absolutely nothing and no service. I didn’t go all the way up the road, though.”

“Good.”

“Let’s see if there’s anything in here that can help us get you out,” she said.

They had borrowed the minivan from someone Rick knew so they wouldn’t stand out. They both realized that if they had been driving the other car, neither of them would be alive.

“Who is this guy?” Higgins asked from the back. “There’s scuba gear, some footballs, a tennis racket and a hair dryer?”

She came around to the front to look at Thomas’ leg. 

“I think it’s just pinned by the steering column,” he said, trying to force it up with his hands.

“I have an idea,” she said, looking up at Magnum.

“OK. Let’s do it.”

“I’m not sure it will work. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Higgy.” He grabbed her hands and made her look into his eyes. “I trust you.”

“OK,” she said.

She grabbed the footballs first. They were uninflated and she was able to wedge them in between his leg and the steering column.

“I thought you said footballs. These are soccer balls,” he said, smiling at her because this was a familiar argument.

“Today, we’re calling them footballs.”

Next, she used a coffee stirrer, that was amazingly still in the cup holder, to attach the ball to the scuba tank.

“I see what you’re doing MacGyver.”

“Let’s see if this works.”

He squeezed her shoulder and put his hands on the steering column. “Let’s go.”

The air shot into the ball inflating it just enough to start lifting the column. Thomas wedged a metal rod between the floor and the column holding it in place. They did the same with the next ball and the next. That offered them just enough room to work Thomas’ leg free and Higgins helped pull him from the car.

She left out a huge sigh of relief when he was free and he kissed her quickly on the lips. 

“Thank you,” he said, lying back in the grass.

She smiled at him and then helped to move him to a mossy area under a tree. He couldn’t put a lot of weight on his leg, but he didn’t think it was broken.

Higgins had grabbed a blanket and their lunch from the car. They had intended to stake out a possible site of an illegal dog fighting ring when they were run off the road.

(Earlier that day)

“Are you sure we’re heading the right direction?” Higgins asked. “This area is quite remote.”

“This is probably the right direction then. I can’t imagine that someone would want their dogfighting operation in the middle of the city.”

“I supposed you’re right.”

“What? Can you say that a little louder?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not even certain Grey is going to be here. She was a racing dog, not a fighting dog. I can’t even think about dog fighting, It makes me sick.”

Thomas looked over at her. “I know. Let’s see what we can find and hopefully we can shut this whole thing down.”

Their search brought them to what looked like an abandoned farm. They drove past and pulled off the road about a quarter mile down, hiding the car in the tall grass. On foot, they hiked around to the back of the property, making sure to stay just inside the tree line.

“There are definitely dogs here,” Higgins said. As they drew closer, they could hear barking and whining. 

“Maybe this time all that noise will disguise us,” Magnum said.

After a quick look around, and seeing no one, they ran up to one of the outbuildings. It was empty except for a large fenced-in arena inside. Higgins sighed.

Magnum reached over and squeezed her hand. “Come on. Let’s check out the other building.”

The dogs were in the second building. There were not as many dogs this time and they were definitely well taken care of, as if they were being groomed for the fight.

“Magnum! This has to be Grey,” Higgins said, standing near one of the cages. “Hi baby. We’re here to help you.” She waved her hand in front of the cage letting the dog sniff it. Grey reached out her tongue and licked Higgins’ hand. “She knows we’re here to help her!”

Just then, they heard voices. Magnum grabbed Higgin’s hand and pulled her into a horse stall where bags of food were stacked. They quickly hid behind the bags, Magnum squeezed Higgins’ hand in his.

“See I told you. Nothing is going on in here.” a voice said.

“Yeah, well Gary said two private dicks were asking around about that Greyhound,” the second voice said. “I told you that you were a fool for taking her. She’s already caused us more trouble than she’s worth.”

Higgins sucked in a breath and Thomas put his fingers to his lips.

“What are you worried about? They ain’t going find us out here.”

“Yeah? Well, your pal Gary may have given us up. I’m not taking any chances.”

The two men moved away from where Magnum and Higgins were hiding. They moved some of the cages around, still talking, but the barking dogs disguised what they were saying.

“We have to get Grey,” Higgins whispered.

Magnum looked over at her. “I don’t know that we can right now. We can definitely text Katsumoto though.” He pulled out his phone and sent the coordinates. “Damn. I don’t have service. I’ll check again as soon as we’re out of here.”

The two men finally finished up whatever they were doing and slammed the door. Magnum and Higgins waited a couple minutes before leaving their hiding spot.

They walked out and Higgins immediately noticed Grey was gone. “Thomas, they took her! What if they get rid of her?”

“Let’s get outside and see if we can see anything.”

They went to the door, looking out the window to see air nyone was out there. They made it outside and were halfway to the woods when they heard shouting behind them. They raced into the woods. Higgins was behind Magnum when the first shot rang out. It hit the tree next to her, showering her with tree bark.

“Higgy!” Magnum slowed to grab her hand. He pulled her after him, zig zagging through the trees. The shots slowed and then stopped all together. Magnum pulled her behind a tree. They stood silently straining to hear footsteps, but heard nothing.

“Are you OK?” Magnum said.

“I’m fine.”

“Let’s see if we can make it back to the car.”

They did make it back to the car, but found themselves being chased down the road by those same two men.


	3. A beautiful life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiking up the ravine is harder than the trip down.

The car, thankfully had landed right side up. Higgins was wandering around it again for the 50th time that evening.

“Higgy. What are you looking for? It’s not going to miraculously be drivable.”

She let out a sigh and walked back over to where he was sitting. “We should probably conserve a little of our water.”

Thomas looked up the ravine. “We need to hike back to the road in the morning. Hopefully my text to Katsumoto went through.”

“We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning,” she said, looking at this leg. “Maybe I can go to the road at least and see if I can get a signal. T.C. and Rick, or at least Kumu, have to have noticed we’re missing by tomorrow.”

“Rick is definitely expecting his friend’s car back tomorrow.”

Higgins cleaned up the trash from their snacks and put it in the car. She grabbed some pillows from the back and walked back over to Thomas. “It’s like this guy knew exactly what we would need or he actually lives out of his car when he’s not scuba diving or playing football.”

Thomas leaned back against a tree and when Higgins sat down, he pulled her against his side. She accidently bumped his leg and he drew in a sharp breath.

“Oh Thomas. I’m sorry,” and she started to move away from him.

“It’s OK,” he said, drawing her back against him. “I need you here.” She reached up and kissed his cheek and then settled her head against his shoulder in its familiar spot.

“Tell me a Higgy story from when you were little,” he said.

“What? I don’t have any good stories.”

“I’m sure you do. Little Higgy was probably wreaking lots of havoc all over England.”

Higgins smiled at that.

“Little Higgins was actually quite good. I think she was afraid to be bad.”

Thomas looked down at her, but didn’t say anything. He just tightened his arm around her to let her know that things were different now.

“OK. I have one. I wasn’t allowed to have any pets when I was a child. One day, walking home from school, I found a kitten near some trash bins. I carried it home in my satchel and ran up to my room.”

“How old were you?” he asked, picturing a tiny Higgins with the kitten tucked under her chin.

“Maybe about 7? Anyway. I kept the kitten hidden away in my room for a few days. I took a dish and some milk from the kitchen. My nanny must have found it when I was at school. My mother was furious. I’m not sure what happened to the kitten.”

“That’s awful,” he said, kissing her head. “I’m getting you a kitten when we get home.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m holding you to that.”

He reached out and cupped the side of her face. She put her hand over his, leaning into his strength. It was dark where they were even though the sun was still setting.

“Do you want to tell me what was going on this morning?” he asked. “It’s OK if you don’t agree with me all the time. Hell, I’m usually wrong anyway, but Higgy, you need to talk to me. Don’t keep everything inside.”

She looked at him and tears suddenly filled her eyes. 

“What’s wrong Higgy?” And he pulled her as close as he could without bumping his leg. “Shhh. It’s OK. Whatever it is, just talk to me.”

She leaned back and wiped at her eyes. “I think I’m pregnant.”

He stared at her, stunned. “What?”

“I’m sorry Thomas,” she said, sitting up. “We are barely exclusive and I’m not even sure where this,” and she gestured between the two of them, “is going.” She angrily brushed away the tears that were now falling in earnest. “I can barely be civil to my friends, how am I supposed to be someone’s mum?”

He sat up next to her. “Stop.” And he reached both of his hands to frame her face and kissed her. When he broke the kiss, he had the biggest smile she had ever seen.

The knots in her stomach loosened a little.

“First of all, never say you’re sorry. It takes two people to make a baby and I was definitely there. Second, you know I love you. I can’t even tell you when I fell in love with you, but I was pretty sure I loved you the day you picked me up on the horse.” He dipped his head to looked into her eyes, “and I know you love me. Everything else we can figure out.”

She was crying again. “I’m so scared Thomas. What if something happened when we crashed. It’s all I can think about. I’m terrified of being a mum, but I’m just as terrified of not being one.”

He pulled her back against him. He didn’t know how to respond. The thought of losing a baby, that a few minutes ago he hadn’t even known about, was devastating. He put his hand on her belly as if his five fingers could protect their baby. She put her hand on top of his and their fingers tangled together.

“You and me, we can do anything as long as we’re together,” he said. “First, we need to get out of here.” He kissed her head and they came up with a plan.

Higgins woke up to something wet tickling her cheek. She brushed it away and turned her face more into Thomas’ chest. He mumbled in his sleep.

The tickling sensation continued and Higgins opened her eyes to find Grey wagging her tail and licking her hand.

“Oh my God!” She said, sitting up and grabbing the dog’s collar. “Hello beautiful.”

She had startled Thomas awake and he was looking at her and the dog while rubbing his eyes.

“Thomas, Grey found us!”

“Let’s hope whoever took her is not with her.”

Higgins fed her a few crackers and gave her some of their precious water.

“And you think you’ll be a terrible mom,” he said, watching her immediately take care of the dog before even thinking of herself.

They decided to hike up the ravine to the road to see if they could find help. Higgins ripped the blanket into shreds and wrapped Thomas’ knee. It had swollen over night, but he insisted on coming with her. They made it about a third of the way back up before he had to stop. 

“Thomas. You need to stop. You’re only hurting your knee more.”

“I’m good,” he said, attempting to move forward. “I don’t want you to go alone.”

“Don’t you dare treat me like an invalid just because I may or may not be pregnant.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but she kept talking. “I am perfectly capable of walking up this hill to see if I can find someone to help us.”

He grabbed her hands. “I know you are,” he said. “Just, just be careful.”

He let his unspoken words – how much he loved her – hang between them.

She softened. “I’m fine Thomas.”

She realized that while she had had a little time to process the possibility of a pregnancy, Thomas had less than 12 hours to absorb the news. She reached out and touched his arm. He was leaning heavily against a tree and she could see the pain etched across his face. She knew he had tried to hide how much his knee hurt. 

“Here, let me help you sit down.”

“Take Grey with you.”

She kissed him. “I’ll be right back.”

Higgins continued up the ravine. The vegetation was thick in spots and she had to weave her way around the trees to make any progress. After about an hour, she could see the sunlight getting brighter and brighter. And then there was a shot. She ran away with the dog chasing her. It would have ended badly if Rick hadn’t stepped from behind a tree and shot the man chasing her.

“Higgy!”

“Oh my God! Rick. Thank God. I think there’s another man!”

“Katsumoto got him. He also found the dog fighting spot that Thomas texted him about.”

Higgins sat down on a tree stump, breathing heavily. “Oh good. We need to get Thomas.”

“T.C.’s on it. Let’s get you and your friend here to the top.”

Thomas sat in the back of a rescue squad and watched as paramedics, at another rescue squad across from him, looked at the cut on Higgins’ arm. One minute she was standing and the next, she had passed out cold. Thomas sat up.

“Rick, help me get over there.”

Rick looked over at Higgins. “Thomas, the paramedics are helping her. Look, she’s already regained consciousness.”

Thomas started to get off the stretcher. “Either help me over there or I will crawl,” he said.

“OK man. Relax. I’ll help you,” he said putting his arm around Thomas shoulder.

Thomas grimaced as his injured leg touched the ground.

“Are you sure Thomas?”  
“Yes. I need to get over to her,” he said, and then paused, drawing in a breath over the pain. “I think she’s pregnant,” he said.

Rick looked at him, but didn’t say anything. He half carried Thomas the rest of the way to Higgins and helped him climb into the rescue squad next to her.

“Hey,” Thomas said, grabbing her hand. “What’s going on? Are you OK?”

“I was just really lightheaded. I think I’m OK.”

“We need to tell them,” Thomas said, and then looked at the paramedic taking Higgins’ blood pressure. His name was Jeff.

“We think she may be pregnant,” Thomas said.

Jeff looked up. “Well, that could definitely explain some things.”

He looked at Higgins. “How far along do you think you are.”

“I’m not certain. Perhaps two months?”

Rick watched from the distance. He saw Thomas squeeze Higgins’ hand and whisper something to her. He could see that Higgins was crying. The paramedic returned with a machine that looked like the portable ultrasound the medic carried on their missions. And the next thing he knew, he was listening to the steady heartbeat of Higgins’ and Magnum’s baby. Thomas kissed her at that moment and then looked at her like she was the most important thing in his entire world. Her hand was on his cheek and she was smiling through her tears. 

Rick let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and looked away. He no longer wanted to intrude on this intensely private moment.

“You alright Orville?” T.C. said coming back up from the accident scene. “Are they OK?”

“Yeah man. Sometimes life can be really beautiful.”


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glance into the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story felt like it needed a little something else.

Thomas looked over at his two children.

“Daddy. We have to save him,” Maddie said, holding up the kitten. 

They had gone to the beach while Higgins was working. After Maddie was born, they tried to never both be gone at the same time. And they also tried to limit the number of dangerous assignments, opting instead for paper trails and background checks. Today, Thomas took the kids to Waikiki Beach for the afternoon while his wife was trying to get some work done. Right when they were leaving the beach, they found a tiny kitten near the trash cans.

“He doesn’t know where his family is,” Maddie insisted. “Mama would want us to save him.”

Thomas looked at his daughter. She was the spitting image of Higgins, but with slightly darker hair. That’s where the similarities ended. She was 100 percent Thomas, self-assured, constantly pushing her luck and always ready to do something fun.

“Are you sure Mama wants a kitten?” said Sebastian.

Juliet insisted they should have named him Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV because he was a mini-Magnum, but personality-wise, he was Higgins – ultra serious and studious all wrapped up in a 3-year-old body. He turned his little worried face toward Thomas. “Daddy? What do you think?”

“I think Mama would want us to help him,” Thomas said, taking the kitten and wrapping it in one of their towels. “Climb into your booster seat and then you can hold him.”

Maddie eagerly climbed in next to her brother and they whispered to each other in the backseat on the ride home.

“Did you know that Mama had a kitten when she was a little girl?” Thomas asked. “She found one by some trash cans too, just like this little guy.”

“See, it was meant to be,” Maddie said, and Thomas smiled at his daughter.

Five years ago, when Higgins had told him she was pregnant, he could not even imagine being a dad. But when Maddie was born, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. When he was holding his newborn daughter and looking at Higgins, he realized that this was the life he was meant to lead. And Higgins, he had asked her to marry him when Maddie was a month old. Kumu had watched the baby, her granddaughter as she called her, while Thomas and Juliet were married at the courthouse. They insisted they didn’t need a fancy ceremony, but their friends threw them a big party anyway.

Sebastian, a nod to Nuzo, was born two years later. Lately, when the kids were asleep and Higgins was tucked against his side in bed, they had been talking about having another baby. 

Thomas smiled as he pulled into the driveway. Even now, after all these years, coming home to Juliet still made his heart speed up. 

Maddie jumped out of the car as soon as Thomas parked. “Mama! Mama! Come see what we found,” she yelled, running into the house.  
Thomas took the kitten and helped Seb out of the car.

“Oh. I can’t wait to see,” Higgins said, following Maddie out the back door.

“It’s a kitten! It’s a kitten!” Maddie was dancing in circles, she was so excited.

Seb was doing a better job of containing his excitement. His eyes sparkled, but he was watching Juliet to see how she would react.

“A kitten!” she said, looking up at Thomas with wide eyes.

“He (or she, we’re really not sure) was by the trash cans at the beach. We couldn’t just leave him.” Thomas said, with Maddie and Seb chiming in.

“He’s so little. He needs us,” Seb said.

“Oh he does, does he,” Juliet said, picking up her son and tickling him. She kissed his chubby cheek as he giggled and then set him back down.

Maddie took the kitten from Thomas. “Come on Sebbie. Let’s show him his new home.” They both ran inside.

“Oh that poor kitten,” Higgins said, walking into Thomas’ arms. He hugged her, kissing her hair. 

“We couldn’t just leave him there. And remember? I told you I would get you a kitten.”

She smiled against his chest. “You did. How do you think kittens like babies?”

He leaned back looking at her. “Really?” She smiled up at him.

“I think they love babies.”


End file.
